


The Thief and the Hawk

by Lyss (hydrangea)



Category: Elenium/Tamuli Series - David & Leigh Eddings
Genre: AU, Future Fic, M/M, Open Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-23
Updated: 2010-12-23
Packaged: 2017-10-14 00:28:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/143325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hydrangea/pseuds/Lyss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Talen had always been aware of the way Hawk looked at him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Thief and the Hawk

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gryvon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gryvon/gifts).



> Thanks VelvetMouse!

Talen had always been aware of the way Hawk looked at him. The boy had toddled after him since he was a babe, eyes filled with wonder and adoration. That had been well enough -- made him an excellent playmate if nothing else, which Ehlana took merciless advantage of. As Hawk grew older however, the look changed into something calculating and not the slightest childish. That's when Talen started paying notice.

There was something odd about Hawk. Not the least was the way in which Sparhawk hastily picked his son up everytime he caught Hawk looking at Talen. Once Talen had even caught Sparhawk scolding Hawk as if he were an adult and the expression on Hawk's face had indicated that he had more than understood. Before they realized Talen was there and promptly turned into an average father and son, anyway.

As Hawk grew older, the look never left his eyes. Every time Talen stepped into the room, his gaze seemed to settle on him for at least a couple of seconds, no matter what was going on. Sparhawk appeared to have given up on -- hiding it? keeping it contained? -- and mostly gave his son amused and bemused looks. By the time they finally managed to drag Talen, kicking and screaming, into the Pandion order, the look had solidified into something that made Talen distinctly uncomfortable.

The years went by and Talen was assigned, along with Berit, to a Chapter created in Tamuli at Emperor Sarabian's invitation. Talen started to realize that boys were _much_ more interesting than girls and had a brief fling with an Atan attached to the Palace Guard. In due time, he even became a full knight.

One morning, after prayer, Talen was called into the study of the Head of the Chapter House. There he was handed a dispatch from a distinctly amused knight.

"You have been recalled," he said.

Smothering a stab of happiness, Talen eyed the dispatch curiously. Why now? He opened it.

' _Talen!_ ' it began. ' _As I have been married for near a year to Marrin, Father says you can come home. Marrin really wants to meet you and I have missed you, so hurry home!_ '

It was signed ' _Sparhawk (the younger)_ '.

A shiver went up Talen's spine. He remembered the murderous look Hawk had given his father as Sparhawk calmly announced Talen's assignment. The way Hawk had pulled Talen aside in the garden that afternoon, angry tears running down his cheeks.

"Don't you dare forget me," Hawk had said intently. "Don't you dare."

Talen had thought it was a simple tantrum from a young boy that idolized him, but suddenly he couldn't help but remember Sparhawks's words as he caught Talen exiting the garden.

"He's caught you now, you know. He's never letting you go."

"He's just a boy," Talen had replied. "I think I can manage."

Suddenly, Talen wasn't as sure.

* * *

The fog lay heavy over the city as Talen rode through the gates on his return home. He'd heard Sparhawk complain that every time he returned home, it seemed to be raining. For Talen, it seemed to be fog. Clinging, thick fog that made him happy he'd forgone the mailshirt and heavy armor for a less...conspicuous attire. You could take the thief out of the streets, but not the streets out of the thief .

Hesitating as he reached the crossing where he'd either have to turn towards the Chapter House or the palace, Talen thought back to the dispatch. It had definitely been Hawk's writing, which indicated they wanted him at the palace. But he wasn't stupid -- whatever Hawk was plotting would be waiting for him there. He turned his horse towards the Chapter House. It wouldn't hurt to ask around before he 'officially' returned.

Talen heard heavy horses approach from behind and he hastily turned into a narrow alley. There was only one place horses like that came from in Cimmura and only one reason they would be following him. He slid off his horse, took his belongings and slapped the horse on the rump, sending it trotting off. Then he slipped off into the labyrinth of streets that had been his home for much longer than the Pandion Order had.

A few hours later, Talen found himself approaching the Palace in a roundabout manner. It wasn't the place he wanted to go, but it was also the only place he could get some answers. The tricky bit would be to get to Sparhawk before Hawk figured out he was there.

Talen slipped into a suitable disguise in a nook outside the kitchen entrance, and then slipped inside. No one would look a second time at a guardsman. He hoped.

He entered the Palace by attaching himself to the tail end of a party of guards returning to their sleeping quarters in the basements. When he was well inside, he detached himself again and took off through the corridors. This time of day, Sparhawk really ought to be in his office, and his office had a very convenient secret passage hidden behind a very moldy tapestry. He'd found it when snooping around a decade ago, and as far as he knew, no one else suspected it was there.

He rounded a corner, listening carefully around him. The study should be close.

He froze in mid-step. Then made a rueful face.

"Hello, Talen." Hawk pushed off the wall he'd been resting against, walking towards Talen with a hint of a stalk in his movements. His eyes bore into Talen's with an intensity that made parts of his stand up and notice in an almost uncomfortable way. "I thought you'd show up around here."

"Hawk."

Talen kept it short, not knowing if his voice would keep itself steady. Hawk had certainly...grown up. Taller than Talen, lean and giving an impression of strength he'd inherited straight from Sparhawk. Talen felt something flip in his stomach. Hawk was also devastatingly attractive.

"I thought that you'd come to see me immediately," Hawk continued, still approaching. "Father told me you wouldn't." He made a face. "He was right."

"The letter was a bit alarming," Talen said, trying to sound as if it was a legitimate excuse. He suspected they both knew that he'd just been running. Now, the look Hawk had been giving Talen since he was a child made sense. In this Hawk, it fit. Somehow, Talen knew that he wouldn't get away this time. Not that he was he sure he wanted to.

Hawk came to a stop inches from Talen. Then he started walking again, slowly backing Talen into the wall. Talen didn't even notice he was moving until he felt cold stone against his back. Really, he should not to let Hawk do this to him. He knew a dozen of ways to get out of this situation, even without resorting to the arts of war he'd been practising for the last decade. He couldn't do that, though. Not to Hawk. Not to the boy he loved dearly, even if he'd grown up into a frighteningly attractive man.

"The letter," Hawk said clearly, "was supposed to bring you back." He punctuated the word by slamming a hand into the wall next to Talen's head. Talen flinched a little. Hawk smirked, leaning in. "It did, didn't it. It's not like a request from a prince is an order."

His voice was barely more than a whisper. Talen couldn't move. Hawk leaned in, almost thoughtfully, kissing him softly with a brush of lips that sent fire through Talen's veins. He found himself panting into Hawk's lips even as he pressed himself into the wall. Hawk laughed roughly, quietly, and nipped at Talen's underlip before he stepped away.

"Welcome home." He gave Talen a once-over that made the older man blush furiously. "You may go now."

Then he walked away, whistling. The bastard. Talen pushed himself off the wall. He should've known. The way Hawk'd been looking at him was the way a girl looked at a boy she knew she would marry. What that meant for him...

He absently pushed the tapestry aside and stepped into the study.

"I see Hawk got to you."

Talen froze for the second time, looking up wide-eyed at Sparhawk, seated behind his desk. He'd forgotten all about him. "I... Er."

Sparhawk smirked at him. He hadn't changed much in the years that passed. Maybe grown more dangerous. More imposing. He _really_ wasn't someone Talen wanted to meet after just having been kissed by his _son_.

"I did warn you," Sparhawk said idly. "You sealed your fate when you didn't believe me."

Talen gave up on dignity and flopped down in an armchair across the room. "I should've believed you."

"It wouldn't have been half as fun."

Talen glared at him. "You're a very annoying man, Sparhawk."

"So they tell me." Sparhawk got to his feet, his back making a few noises that made Talen wince. He might not look older, but he was. With a sense of alarm, Talen realized that even though it felt like it, Sparhawk wouldn't be around forever. He stared at Sparhawk, who glared back.

"I'm not in the grave yet."

"Sorry," Talen said quickly, then looked around. "Things look the same."

"It hasn't been that long Talen," Sparhawk said dryly. "Now, I believe you have a report for me?"

Talen straightened automatically. Sometimes, having grown up with Sparhawk constantly around, it was hard to remember that he was also Talen's superior. "Halden sent a rather lengthy one with me," he said. "I think it's got to do with the military changes around there."

"I expect one from you too." Sparhawk gave him a frank look. "I'm not as stupid as to believe you don't have your fingers in all kinds of things still."

Talen grinned cheekily. "It's already on your desk."

Sparhawk jumped and glanced down at the papers Talen sneaked onto it earlier. "I hate when you do that," he muttered to himself. "Come on then. I know there's some people that'd like to see you."

The reunion with Khalad, Ehlana and the others were as joyous as Talen expected (he'd _missed_ Khalad and his brothers to a degree he wasn't completley comfortable thinking of). Hawk was mysteriously absent, though, and so was Marrin, whom Talen had never met. When he asked Ehlana, she gave him a mischievous look.

"I believe she and Hawk have got something planned." When Talen blanched, she laughed a tinkling laugh and patted his head. "You're still so young sometimes, Talen."

When Talen withdrew to the room they'd apparently kept for him all these years, he felt tired and on edge. He kept waiting for Hawk to jump around a corner and push him up the wall again. Whether he wanted to or not was another question he didn't have an answer for. Talen shivered and softened his steps until they could barely be heard.

He looked down the corridor. In hindsight, his room was awfully close to the royal apartments, and, in particular, Hawk's room. Talen eyed the door cautiously, then told himself to stop.

His room was as he remembered it and impeccably clean. Talen threw his meagre pack onto a chair and went to lie down on the bed. He closed his eyes, wanting to rest for just a second. He didn't notice when he drifted off.

* * *

Hawk found him at breakfast the next morning, wearing a devil-may-care grin and clothes that managed to look remarably Styric for being Elene. Talen swallowed his bread wrong as he saw him, coughing as Hawk blandly sat down to eat opposite of him.

"You should eat more carefully," Hawk told him. "Wouldn't want you to suffocate before we got to the fun bits." He looked thoughtful. "Actually, I'm _really_ looking forwards to the fun bits, so do take care."

Talen had another coughing fit.

From Hawk's behavior so far, Talen had expected a forward front-assault. He was prepared for it even, ready to rebuff Hawk should he try to back Talen into a wall again. It didn't happen however. Instead, Hawk seemed satisfied with appearing as soon as Talen wasn't doing anything important, simply talking and getting to know each other after a long time apart.

Slowly, Talen started to relax. He found that he liked the man Hawk had become and the love he'd held for the small boy in his memory easily transferred to the adult in the here and now.

A few days in, they went into the city to visit the olds haunts Talen hadn't visited (much) since he entered the Pandion Order. Hawk took an almost childish degree of delight in the disguises and sneaking, but there was absolutely nothing childish in the way he quietly had Talen's back. Nor in the way he didn't hesitate to shove Talen to the ground when a fool with a knife came at them. If he took a second too long to get off Talen afterwards... Well, he could forgive him. During the circumstances.

The funny thing was, that after a few days of easy conversation and friendly working together, Talen found himself vaguely pissed off. What was it about anyway? Did he kiss Talen just for fun? To wind him up? Well, it had worked, that was for sure. He eyed Hawk as they walked side by side towards the armory, intending to do some training. Hawk was talking energetically about something that Talen didn't listen to, choosing instead to watch Hawk.

There was an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach as Talen realized he actually wanted Hawk to do something. Wanted this man he'd become to hunt him down and kiss him until he couldn't breath. But. Talen sighed to himself. There were always buts.

When Hawk placed a warm hand at the small of his back a while later however, Talen decided he'd had enough. Enough of the waiting and enough of this will he-won't he. He grabbed Hawk, who grinned in delight, and dragged him off to the first quiet nook he could remember. "What are you _doing_?" Talen hissed.

Hawk gave him a close look. "Finally had enough, did you?"

There was definitely a smirk on his face, Talen decided. He huffed. "What do you mean?"

Hawk reached out towards him. Talen swayed towards him, almost without thinking. Hawk withdrew his hands. "Of me not touching you." He sounded satisfied with himself. "I knew that would be the way to do it."

Talen quenched the urge to cross his arms and glare. He wasn't Sparhawk. "Do what?"

Hawk took a step closer and Talen swallowed hard. Whatever protests he might have against Hawk's attention, lack of attraction wasn't one of them. He fought to urge to shift nervously. If he came any closer, they'd be touching from hip to chest.

"Seducing you of course." Hawk said it directly into Talen's ear, voice slightly raspy and breath hot against his skin. Without thinking, Talen's hands landed on Hawk's sides and he leaned into the hands skimming down his sides until they landed on his hips, dragging him into Hawk. "Is it working?"

Considering he was nosing down Talen's neck at the moment, Talen didn't really think he could be blamed for not making sense. It was hard enough to _breathe_. "Ma-marrin."

Hawk chuckled quietly, deeply, pulling back enough he could look into Talen's eyes. "We have... an arrangement. Like my father, my mother and your brother have an... arrangement."

Talen looked back intently, trying to figure out if that was the truth. He found he actually wanted it to be, that he wanted to give in. With an effort, he pushed Hawk away. He knew that what Khalad had with Sparhawk and Ehlana worked well -- that they were all happy. But that was because they knew.

"I need to meet Marrin."

Hawk looked into his eyes, then nodded. "I thought you would." Then a mischievous look flashed over his face and he dipped into to kiss Talen in a way that left him breathless. When he pulled away, Talen felt decidedly weak in the knees. "Come on then. She's been waiting a long time to meet you."

As Talen followed Hawk out of the alcove, he didn't protest when Hawk reached out to grab his hand. Nor did he say anything when Hawk stuck his head into Sparhawk's study with a self-satisfied look on his face, saying: "Got him." in a very smug voice. But that might've been because he was blushing too hard.

Hawk was a decidedly strange young man, but it worked for him, Talen decided. It might work for them too. He looked down at their hands for a second, pale skin and tanned brown together. Yeah, it would most definitely work.

"Let's hurry," he suddenly said. Hawk looked at him in surprise, then smiled broadly.

"That's my Talen."

If the words were more than a little appropriatory, Talen ignored it. There were more important things to consider, after all.


End file.
